The City Council got rid of the freelance rule enforcer at a meeting Tuesday, June 21.

The city has paid a parliamentarian — an expert on the rules that govern meetings — $13,627 to sit in on council meetings since December, money that council member Ann Smith said was well spent.

“I thought the parliamentarian did an excellent job,” she said. “Every single council member, including the mayor, has learned a lot about how meetings are run.”

But council member Justin Bloyer had a different opinion. “This has been a horrible waste of taxpayer money,” he said.

The termination came after a state law was discovered that forbids outsiders from presiding over meetings.

We are as cantankerous as ever.

According to city administrator Kristina Handt, the parliamentarian had been running the council meetings. But state law says that only the mayor or acting mayor can do that.

The council’s abrupt action ended a seven-month experiment to make meetings more civil.

When the measure was debated in November, Mayor Mike Pearson and Bloyer said hiring a parliamentarian was costly and unnecessary.

They were outvoted by council members Smith, Julie Fliflet and Jill Lundgren.

“We said, ‘Let’s try it. It’s better than nothing,'” Smith said.

She said the move was necessary to make the council meetings more polite and short. She explained at the time: “We have to do something to stop the personal agendas and the attacks.”

Lake Elmo officials sought bids, using the names of eight Minnesota parliamentarians registered with the National Association of Parliamentarians. Since then, Kevin Wendt of Richfield has been the parliamentarian used by the city, except for occasional times when he could not attend meetings.

Now that Wendt has been sacked, council member Smith said the council should be able to operate on its own.

“It’s a test. Can we stay on track? Can we have favorable rulings that are not biased toward one side or another?” she said.

“All of us have grown as council members. We need to monitor ourselves now.”

The mayor said hiring the parliamentarian was a mistake.

“Any unbiased observer would have to say this has been a colossal failure,” Pearson said. “Our meetings have been as long or longer, and we are as cantankerous as ever. Civility has not been a strong theme of ours by anyone’s description.”

Courtesy on the part of city council members has been an issue in Lake Elmo for years.

The city was warned in October by the Minnesota League of Cities that continued rudeness and dysfunction could result in higher insurance premiums.

In recent years, both Smith and Bloyer have been censured for allegedly mistreating city employees.

Bloyer is still under an order not to speak to city employees unless another council member is present. During council meetings, he is not allowed to question anyone, but must submit questions in writing in advance.

Pearson and Bloyer said the parliamentarian didn’t regulate courtesy, but served as a kind of bystander, interrupting only when procedural rules were broken.

Lately, said administrator Handt, the council has asked Wendt to preside over meetings. “He was gaveling in the meetings,” she said. “He was calling on people to speak.”

But instead of asking the parliamentarian not to manage meetings, the council decided Tuesday to terminate the contract.

Bob is a 40-year veteran (yes, he is grizzled) who edited one Pulitzer Prize winner and wrote two that were nominated. He has also worked in Des Moines, Colorado Springs and Palo Alto. He writes about the suburbs, the environment, housing, religion -- anything but politics. Secret pleasures: Kayaking on the Mississippi on the way to work, doughnuts brought in by someone else. Best office prank: Piling more papers onto Fred Melo’s already trash-covered desk.

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“The termination came after a state law was discovered that forbids outsiders from presiding over meetings.”
City Attorney, how long to catch this?

Chaser892

So a parliamentarian is someone who’s supposed to known how meetings are run. But he didn’t know about the state law limiting his own involvement in those meetings? Some expert.

GreaterMN

Dat too, by golly.

Ranger1873

Not his job to know that. He’s hired to run a meeting. To do otherwise is insubordination. This is on the city administration, which appears to be in need of fumigation.

Highlander

Good one!

GreaterMN

I don’t think the parliamentarian was originally “…hired to run a meeting…”. It has been some time since I watched a City Council video replay, but the last one I saw had the parliamentarian only advising the Mayor/Council on matters of meeting order/propriety. I hear that the actual running of the meeting is a more recent morphing of the parliamentarian’s function. To put this on the current “city administration” (which is usually the term for city staff) would not be fair. The “fumigation” – nearly a complete turnover of City staff (“administration”) – occurred last year. It’s clearly those 5 Council Members’ inability to agree – or at least find a middle ground – that leads to the governing disaster that continues in LE.

busdriver37

If I’m remembering correctly, the city council actually fired the city attorney (controversially) months ago. You can’t make this stuff up.

Tater4579

I wonder if these buffoons realize they are the laughingstock of the entire metro area? Probably not.

Theo Nugent

laughingstock of the entire midwest…soon to be entire nation.

PhxAz

Glad I don’t live in Lake Elmo… What an embarassment. To have elected officials that need a babysitter when communicating to others, they should be removed immediately. C’mon tax payers of Lake Elmo, take your city back!

Ranger1873

“She explained at the time: “We have to do something to stop the personal agendas and the attacks.””
__

Hint: they’re called “elections.”

bannedsmoke

Lake Elmo voters….really?

PSAGuy

The key to this entire situation and to the entire council’s operation can be summed up in one word……… professionalism (or actually lack thereof). The ENTIRE council must go ASAP. Anything else is a partisan bandaid. A more unprofessional group I have never seen.

Highlander

Lake Elmo could solve all of their fiscal problems by broadcasting the City Council rows as a reality television show, although no one would probably believe that real hick town politicians could be this obnoxious and stupid.

GreaterMN

Actually I doubt if they have any “fiscal problems”. At one point in the past I recall the city portion of the ad valorem tax levy was in the bottom 5 of Metro cities. No, their problem is a “people” problem.

kinni88

It is an epidemic. In many large corporate American companies they hire “meeting facilitators” that basically do the same thing and collect nearly the same wage. How do we get to the point of not being able to manage our own meetings and our own time?

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